INTRODUCTION

WHAT  IS DOCUMENTARY ?

Documentary – document –‘Something that furnishes evidence or information on any subject’ Oxford English Dictionary

‘documentary is the presentation of actual facts that makes them credible and telling to people at the same time’ William Stoff

‘something that documents life around us. It’s difficult to define, as documentaries these days are so diverse’ Paul Hamann, Former head of BBC documentaries and history

‘documentary is the creative treatment of actuality’ John Grierson

Defining documentary

Contemporary documentary has become increasing fluid and difficult to define. There exists today an expansive set of differing continuum of documentary styles that film makers draw upon.

Traditional definitions that focus on either capturing real events or recreating real events, purporting to factual accuracy without the inclusion of any fictional elements may seem limiting today.

Also in the digital age notions that adhere to photographic ‘literalism’ (a belief that the camera can give us truth, that we can see truth through the camera’s representations) is itself problematic. Partially because the act of observation as we’ve seen from our other studies is subjective and secondly that with modern digital technologies the camera is a fallible object, that digital images can 

be manipulated, the camera in affect can lie.

LINKS

Different modes and styles  of documentary   
  
90 minute documentary   ( The Art of  Documentary Filmmaking)